The Brave One
by LiteraryWitch
Summary: This is the first in a series of oneshots I have planned for the New Year related to The Ryan Chronicles. I will not, however, be uploading each one shot as a new story but rather in one lump story. Merry Christmawhatever!
1. Meeting

He was on the third class boat deck when he saw her. The Italian Fabrizio and the American were apparently traveling with her. "The ship is nice, eh?" said the Italian.

"Yeah, it's an Irish ship," Tommy said with pride towards his Irish heritage. The Italian lad looked confused. "Is English, no?" Tommy scoffed. "No, it was built in Ireland! Fifteen thousand Irishmen built this ship. Solid as a rock. Big Irish hands," he said with pride toward his country.

He watched as an officer walked two dogs down the deck and scoffed again. "Ah, now that's typical. First class dogs come down here to take a shite." "Lets us know where we rank in the scheme of things," said the American, Jack, joining in the conversation. Tommy gave a sarcastic chuckle. "Like we could forget? I'm Tommy Ryan." "I'm Jack Dawson," Jack said, shaking the Irishman's hand. "Fabrizio," said the Italian. Tommy said hi to him too.

Tommy stared at the woman next to Fabrizio. She was beautiful, with cow-black hair and bright green eyes. "And who might you be, lass?" he asked quietly. She set aside her book and smirked. "I'm nobody. Who are you? Are you nobody too?"

Tommy let out a great barklike laugh. "Then there's a pair of us - don't tell! They'd banish - you know!"

"How dreary to be somebody!

How public like a frog

To tell one's name the livelong day

To an admiring bog!"

"Goddamn, you are something else," said the girl. Tommy was surprised. Here was a girl who could swear like a sailor and quote poetry like a lady. "Don't judge a book by its cover," he warned smilingly. "Come now, you must have a name."

"I'm Samantha Miller, but most folk call me Sam," she said.

Tommy turned back to Jack. "Do you make any money with your drawings?" But the steerage artist wasn't paying attention. Jack was staring at a beautiful redhead on A deck, completely lovestruck. Fabrizio waved his hand, but it didn't work and he laughed. "Ah, forget it, boyo. You're as like have angels fly out of your arse as gettin' next to the likes of her!"

"Tommy's right, Jack, you've not got an chance in hell with her," Sam pointed out. Jack snapped out of it and grinned. "Hey, a guy can dream!" Jack and Fabrizio went down to the general room to kill some time before lunch, leaving Samantha and Tommy to their own devices. "So Tommy, what's your story?"

"I'm from Belfast, but my mother and father moved us from there to Queenstown when I was sixteen. I'm 21 now. My father and I worked in a coal yard to pay for my ticket aboard the Titanic. Took damn near a year!" he said. "And what's yours?"

"I was born and raised in the heart of New York City. My parents died in a car crash along with my brother. I moved to Southampton when I was sixteen and I've lived there ever since until Jack, Fabrizio and I boarded. Jack and Fabrizio found me in a pub and won us our tickets in a poker game off some Swedish idiots who were drunk off their asses. Jack and I are going back home and Fabrizio is going to America for the first time," she explained.

 _This girl is beautiful inside and out._


	2. Boarding

But that wasn't the first time he saw her. The first time had been when he'd boarded. She was on deck, alone this time. She was absorbed in a book. He couldn't stop thinking about her as he unpacked his things and washed up. **_She's beautiful. I wonder what her story is?_** he thought to himself. He wanted so badly to talk to her but he didn't even know if she spoke English. Her face was framed by what Tommy called crow hair, and she peered out at the world though beautiful green eyes. **_She has kind eyes._**


	3. Singing

Tommy was looking over some of Jack's drawings.

"They're very good. Very, very good!" he commented.

"Cora, it's time to go now. Say goodbye to Uncle Jack!" Bert Cartmell said, taking his young daughter's hand.

Cora smiled. "Bye, Uncle Jack!"

Jack grinned. "Bye, Cora!"

Fabrizio turned to say something to Helga, but something had caught her eye. Fabrizio followed her gaze. Sam stared too. The whole room went silent as the pretty first class redhead that Jack had been staring at the day before descended the stairs.

Even Helga's parents turned to stare. As, Rose came down the stairs, almost everyone was staring at her. Ladies stared, and men tipped their hats.

Fabrizio tapped Jack on the shoulder, saying his name.

Jack immediately got up to greet Rose. "Hello Mr. Dawson," she said, looking extremely uncomfortable.

"Hello again," Jack said nervously.

Rose shifted on her heels. "May I speak with you?" she asked him.

Jack nodded. "Yeah."

"In private?" she asked, shifting uncomfortably.I don't want these people staring at me any longer than is necessary.

Jack smiled politely. "Yes, of course, after you." Tommy laughed at them, and Jack slapped him playfully with his sketchpad as a result.

As the two of them went off, the piano started up again and the steerage folk resumed their conversations.

"Damn. What do you think made Redhead come down here? And how the hell does she know Jack?" asked Sam.

Tommy shrugged. "Search me. The lad's obviously out to prove us wrong."

"Can you sing as well as you swear?"

The American burst out laughing. "In front of all these people? You're out of your goddamn mind!"

"Why not? You're scared?"

Sam stiffened and shook her head frantically. "No fucking way! I'm no singer, Tommy. Please don't make me do this."

"We're all bored off our arses here. Come on, Sammy girl, sing for us!"

Fabrizio and Helga nodded enthusiastically. "This room could'a use a little music. Per favore, La Bella Samantha!"

 ** _"And who are you, the proud lord said,_**

 ** _that I must bow so low?_**

 ** _Only a cat of a different coat,_**

 ** _that's all the truth I know._**

 ** _In a coat of gold or a coat of red,_**

 ** _a lion still has claws,_**

 ** _And mine are long and sharp, my lord,_**

 ** _as long and sharp as yours._**

 ** _And so he spoke, and so he spoke,_**

 ** _that Lord of Castamere,_**

 ** _But now the rains weep o'er his hall,_**

 ** _with no one there to hear._**

 ** _Yes now the rains weep o'er his hall,_**

 ** _and not a soul to hear."_**

Sam took a deep breath and stopped singing. The whole room clapped and she felt like she'd just got off a horse.

An Englishwoman, Yorkshire by her speech, whistled at her. "Another, please!"

Once more she opened her pretty shell pink lips.

 **" _You think I'm an ignorant savage_** ** _And you've been so many places_** ** _I guess it must be so_** ** _But still I cannot see_** ** _If the savage one is me_** ** _How can there be so much that you don't know?_** ** _You don't know_** ** _You think you own whatever_** ** _land you land on_** ** _The Earth is just a dead thing you can claim_** ** _But I know every rock and tree and creature_** ** _Has a life, has a spirit, has a name_** ** _You think the only people who are people_** ** _Are the people who look and think like you_** ** _But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger_** ** _You'll learn things you never knew, you never knew_** ** _Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon?_** ** _Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned?_** ** _Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains?_** ** _Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?_** ** _Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?_** ** _Come run the hidden pine trails of the forest_** ** _Come taste the sun sweet berries of the Earth_** ** _Come roll in all the riches all around you_** ** _And for once, never wonder what they're worth_** ** _The rainstorm and the river are my brothers_** ** _The heron and the otter are my friends_** ** _And we are all connected to each other_** ** _In a circle, in a hoop that never ends_** ** _How high will the sycamore grow?_** ** _If you cut it down, then you'll never know_** ** _And you'll never hear the wolf cry to the blue corn moon_** ** _For whether we are white or copper skinned_** ** _We need to sing with all the voices of the mountains_** ** _We need to paint with all the colors of the wind_** ** _You can own the Earth and still_** ** _All you'll own is Earth until_** ** _You can paint with all the colors of the wind!"_**

Tommy was amazed. Here was a lass that could sing _and_ quote Dickenson frfrom memory! She had the voice of an angel. _I've never heard or seen anything so beautiful as her._


	4. Dancing

As Sam and Tommy sat in the general room with Cora again, the trio saw a man get out his uilleann pipes. "What d'you reckon is happenin'?" Tommy asked. She shrugged. "A party!" exclaimed little Cora excitedly. "It's to celebrate making a new life in America! Will you tell us a story, Aunt Sam?"

As before, the room went quiet. Emily, the other little girl Sam had befriended sat down at her feet. Her brother joined her, and soon a gaggle of children was sitting around her expectantly.

"Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last sort of folk you would expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they didn't hold with such nonsense," she narrated. She managed to get through to the part where Harry meets Ron on the Hogwarts Express before dinner was served.

As Sam sat with Tommy and Fabrizio reading Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, she spoke again in that fairylike voice of hers. "I wonder what Jack is eating up in first class?"

Fabrizio was confused. "Jack is in'a first class?"

Sam set her book down. "Yeah! Remember that girl up on A deck we saw him staring at? Well apparently he stopped her from ending her own life. Jack said she was feeling so over whelmed that she wanted to end it all by jumping off the back of the ship."

"Blimey, who could possibly hate their life that much?" Tommy wondered. Sam gave him a sad look. "You'd be surprised, Tommy. There are some folk who feel like they have nothing even if they have everything."

"What makes you say that?" asked Tommy. "When I was four, my parents and my brother died in a car crash. I felt like it was my fault because I distracted my dad while he was driving and that's what caused the truck to swerve into our lane. But it wasn't true. The guy was drunk and ran a red light. Still, there were times when I wanted to die too. The guilt was eating me alive and I wanted to end it just like Rose did," she explained.

"I am'a sorry, signorina," said Fabri sincerely. "Don't be. At least I've gone from hating myself to hating the driver of the truck," said Sam. "Hey now, none of that. The purpose of sailing on Titanic is to make a new start," said Tommy. **_This poor girl is so sad._**

The steerage band had started to play. "All right lads, grab your girls, Humors of Glendart. One, two three go!" Eugene Daly called out. A fast and fun song began to play. Sam drained her beer glass in a single gulp and smiled.Where has this been all my life?

She got up and held a hand out to Tommy. "Dance with me!"

The Irishman stared at her. "You're mad, lass!"

"Maybe, but I'll tell you a secret: All the best people are. Now shut up and dance with me, you stupid mundane!" she said. A grin slowly spread on his face.

That night, all of steerage was in attendance at the party. A man was playing some kind of bagpipe, a second man had clappers, a third was banging away on what looked like an Irish war drum and there was a female fiddler.

In came Jack and Rose, who was wearing a red and black evening dress.

"Whoa, Jack, I'm impressed! You look like a million bucks!" said Sam in awe. She noticed Rose and introduced herself. "This is Fabrizio, Helga, Tommy, and me, Samantha."

"Guys, this is Rose, the girl I told you about," said Jack. Cora scampered over. "Uncle Jack! Dance with me!"

He looked at Rose, who nodded. "Go Jack, go. I'll be fine here."

Tommy grinned. "Pleased to meet ya, lass!"

As the band switched from John Ryan's Polka to The Kesh Jig, Jack grabbed beers for himself and Rose. Tommy and Bjorn were arm wrestling. Bjorn promptly slaughtered him. Bjorn and his Swedish buddies cheered drunkenly. "Two outta three! Two outta three!" Tommy insisted. "Tommy's right, Bjorn, you're a bigger cheater than Jack!" said Sam.

"So!" said Rose, taking Tommy's cigarette right out of Tommy's mouth and putting it in hers. "You think you're big, tough men? Let's see you do THIS!" She gave Jack the sliptrain of her gorgeous dress. "Hold this for me, Jack. Hold it up!" she instructed. Slowly she rose on her toes in a would be ballet move. Sam, Tommy and Bjorn looked on, impressed. Rose managed to stay like that foir all of two seconds before collapsing. "OW!"

Tommy laughed. Rose was a show off.

Sam slipped Tommy's hand into hers and danced the night away.

"All right, lads, Cullybacky Hop! Let's go!" called Eugene. Sam went over to Bjorn. "Bjorn. Hey, Bjorn! Ya beat Tommy, but can ya beat me?" The Swede grinned. "Vi see!"

It took a couple of tries, but she did beat him. She beamed at Tommy. "How's that for your two outta three, eh?" she gloated. "Ah, you're just showin' off now!" said the Irishman. **_This girl is absolutely perfect_**. She stuck her tongue out at him

"Can I talk to ya outside?" he asked hopefully. Sam thought it over. "All right!"

"So what was it you were wantin' to say?" she asked as they walked down the steerage corridors. Tommy sighed. "I was hopin' to ask you some advice."

"Fire away."

"Well there's this lass," he began. Sam laughed. "Isn't there always a girl?"

"Don't tease!" said a rather embarrassed Tommy. This was not going as planned. He couldn't bear to have the girl he loved making fun of him.

For even he could not deny it was love.

Sam stopped laughing. "I'm sorry. Go on. What's she like?"

"She's...one in a million. She's kind, and beautiful and funny, and sometimes a little odd," said Tommy.

"So what's the problem?"

"She's you," he said simply. "Look, Sammy, I'm not one for mincin' words, so I'm just gonna come out with it. You're the most amazing girl I've ever met. Like I said, you're sweet, you're funny, and what it is that I'm trying to say is that...I love you."

Crickets.

"Let's think about this logically Tommy. I'm flattered, I really am, but no one can fall so hard so fast," said Sam. "You don't want to fall in love with me, Tommy. I have secrets like no other woman's. Stick with someone safe and harmless," she advised him.

"But it's you I want, Sammy girl."

She pulled away from him. "I can't do this! I've known you all of two days! I'm not just going to throw logic out the window. I'm not like Jack or Fabrizio. I'm not high on life. And you shouldn't be either! Even if we were to date aboard this ship, what would happen once we dock in New York? We'd part ways and never see one another again! I'm so sorry, Tommy. I really am. But we have to think rationally here!"

"Why are you so afraid of living a bit? Why can't we just live in the moment? Why do I scare you?" Tommy demanded angrily. **_Liar liar liar. You know bloody well why._**

"Because to have That Dark Day repeat itself would not only kill me. It would destroy me!" she said, frustrated. "Everyone I've ever loved is dead because of me. I don't want any more blood on my hands."

She scrambled to get up from the bench, taking one last sad look at the heartbroken Irishman. "I'm so sorry. I know I've hurt you."

 ** _What happened to your family wasn't your fault. I wish you'd realize that open your heart to me._**

But the words Tommy so desparately wanted to voice went unsaid.


End file.
